Diksha Sundriyal
Nothing opens people’s eyes about living like death does. In Hulu’s ‘How to Die Alone,’ we follow the journey of Mel Jackson, who has also been awakened to life by her death. It is on the evening of her birthday, when she is alone in her apartment, that a newly assembled cabinet from IKEA falls on her, crushing her while she chokes on her food. Hours later, when she wakes up in a hospital, she discovers that she was considered as good as gone. It is quite a traumatic thing to discover that you were brought back from the jaws of death. With no one to share her grief with, Mel turns to a bar, called the Hoyt Bar, which is where a shift starts to happen in her story. SPOILERS AHEAD
The Fictional Hoyt Bar is a Recurring Location in Mel’s Story
‘How to Die Alone’ is set in New York City, with Mel working at JFK Airport, with a focus on several other locations. However, as often happens in TV shows and movies, the filming did not take place in New York at all. This means that the Hoyt Bar, which becomes Mel’s regular haunt with her girlfriends, does not exist in real life. The filming of the scenes regarding the bar took place in Ontario, Canada. Toronto was used as the backdrop for the exterior locations, but for the interior scenes, the show employed custom-built soundstages.
Initially, the Hoyt Bar is simply a place that Mel ends up in after she finds herself alone following the checkout from Mt. Zion Hospital. Here, she meets the bartender, Allie, who strikes up a conversation with Mel. Later, it turns out that the women live in the same neighborhood, and when they become friends, Mel goes back to the bar repeatedly. Thus, what started as a watering hole for her to drown her sorrows in becomes a place where Mel returns to meet her newfound friend and to have fun with her other friends.
The bar also serves as a reference point for Mel’s journey. The first time we see her there, she is at rock bottom. She has spent her entire birthday alone, ditched by her friends, and almost dying to the point that no one even knew what had happened to her. So, when she walks into the bar, she is still wondering why she survived. However, by the time she comes around for her next visit, she has been through quite an arc. Not only is she doing better mentally, but she has also received a great opportunity at work. Moreover, this time, she is surrounded by friends who love and support her, and this is all it takes for Mel to find the strength to change her life.
Read More: How to Die Alone: Is Hop Hap Thai a Real Restaurant in New York?
